In 1997, the Johann Strauss Society of Vienna launched a new event series: the Artist Talks. As part of this programme, popular and distinguished artists are invited to speak in front of an audience about their lives, their careers, and their special relationship with Viennese dance and operetta music. Each event is framed by audio recordings featuring the respective artist. From the very beginning, these talks have been organized and moderated by Peter Widholz. The venues for these events are not limited to Vienna. Over the years, they have also taken place in Upper Austria, Lower Austria, and Styria. Previous venues  included the Vienna Musikverein, the Graz Opera, the Herbert von Karajan-Center on Vienna’s Ringstraße, the Lehar-Schlössel, the Stadttheater Baden, and the Kongress-and Theaterhaus Bad Ischl.

The series opened on 3rd May 1997 with a conversation with Kammersängerin Renate Holm at Vienna’s Lehár-Schlössel. In the museum hall of this historic building, whose foundations date back to the Middle Ages and which once counted Emanuel Schickaneder and Franz Lehár among its distinguished owners, the artist spoke with Peter Widholz about the many stages of her career: from pop singer and film actress to operetta diva, and ultimately to opera star, a position she attained following Herbert von Karajan’s engagement of her at the Vienna State Opera. Numerous recorded excerpts featuring Renate Holm, primarily as an interpreter of operetta repertoire, complemented the conversation and provided a vivid impression of her artistic achievements, illuminating the reasons for her great popularity and public acclaim. The historic setting of the Lehár-Schlössel further enhanced the occasion. Renate Holm and Peter Widholz were seated on chairs that had once stood on the stage of the Freihaustheater auf der Wieden at the premiere of „The Magic Flute“ in 1791. It was therefore hardly surprising that the very first event of this kind was experienced by the audience in the packed hall as something truly special.

Renate Holm signed the Society’s guestbook with the following words:

The artist talks of the Johann Strauss Society of Vienna quickly developed into one of its most popular series of events, which was occasionally even covered by television. Quite a few female and male artists were invited back for another talk after several years at the request of the audience. So far, the Johann Strauss Society has been able to welcome the following prominent guests as part of its artist talks ( in alphabetical order):

Franz Bauer-Theussl
Lillie Claus-Dostal
Adolf Dallapozza
Brigitte Fassbaender
Sona Ghazarian
Waltraut Haas
Alfons Haider
Heinz Holecek
Renate Holm
Gundula Janowitz
Elisabeth Kales
Waldemar Kmentt
Rainer Küchl
Wilma Lipp
Eduard Macku
Peter Minich
Marianne Nentwich
Helga Papouschek
Herbert Prikopa
Birgit Sarata
Kurt Schreibmayer
Vera Svoboda-Macku
Robert Meyer
Lotte Tobisch-Labotýn
Bernd Weikl
Heinz Zednik

 

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